What This Freak Has Done with Some Local Fruits

By

Obododimma Oha

First, I must observe that I am not an expert in food science, chemistry or agriculture. I am just an ordinary fellow with a fascination for herbs and fruits. I must have picked this interest from life of a rural dweller that lived closer to nature, moving from one bush to another and plucking this leaf or that fruit to chew in envy of the monkeys, the squirrels, and the birds! That orientation was consolidated by one wall mural in our class at Holy Cross Central School, which had the inscription, “I ga-adi ndu ma i rachaba" (You will be healthy if you eat fruits a lot), with a drawing of squirrels eating wild fruits and looking healthy! Teachers may not know the power of visual messages in their teaching. That wall mural was also my teacher; it continued to teach or  remind me about what the teacher taught. The teacher’s voice continued to echo in the eloquent silence of that wall mural. Its mental image was registered in my head, to this day. I stopped every break time to look at the wall mural and to drink from the voice it echoed in the silence. I ga-adi ndu ma i rachaba!

More than fifty years later, I still hear that voice, instructing, illustrating, demonstrating, indicating; all authoritatively. I did not end up with nature study or food science, but it taught me, opened my eyes, to simple things we could do to remain healthy, even to the point of not going to the clinic for any medical problem for many months!

Although I have other professions, I have grown to see being healthy as the most important vocation for all of us. That being the case, they do not have to preach to me before I do my marathon, walk a short distance, and eat simple things, especially fruits. It occurred to me that it was somebody who took the risk of finding out whether ewedu (local Nigerian vegetable rich in iron) or ugu (pumpkin leaves) could be consumed by humans! The knowledge did not fall from the sky or from Heaven. Someone among our ancestors found it out. With all our formal Western knowledge and exposure, which new leaves have we found out could be consumed? Are we  not a bunch of lazy fellows?

This may sound like self-adulation, but it was simply what happened one day when I contemplated our dependence on efforts made by our ancestors and really got annoyed. I said to my wife and my children: “Do you see this hibiscus plant that I prune every time to make the compound look beautiful. I am going to eat its leaves. If it kills me, you can be sure that it can kill and avoid eating it.” My wife tried to discourage me but no way. My mind was already made up. I went to market myself and bought good dry fish and robust meat for soup. At least, if I had to die, I must have a special last meal. I had to mara ihe m riri ṅaba afo n’oku (know what I ate before placing my belly near the fire to ease the stomach pain), as we say in our place. Well, I ate a good meal of pounded yam, the soup with hibiscus leaves. My wife and my children all kept a safe distance while this freak committed suicide! Well, I did not die afterwards or experience any stomach pain; the food was really delicious. I warned my wife and the children not to go near my soup in the fridge. Maybe the hibiscus could still kill me after some days! But it never did, until the soup was exhausted. In that way, I confirmed that hibiscus leaves growing luxuriantly in the compound was good vegetable, not just ornamental nonsense. I even checked the internet later and found out that the leaves, as well as the flower, could be used in making herbal tea! Ah, self-made herbal tea! Another favourite. But let me leave that out for now! I have a lot to say there!t 

That brings me to my simple but fruitful attempts at making exotic wines from local fruits. First, I tried it with pineapple. It wasn’t an attempt at getting pineapple juice. It was an attempt at getting rich and safe palm-wine from pineapple. I chose unripe pineapple and peeled it. Then, I cut it into bits and put these in a clean bucket with cover. I filled it with water, covered it, and fermented it for three days. Then, I got my squeezer and washed my hands (you could use gloves, if you do not trust the sanitation). I commenced the squeezing, removing sediments and pieces of pineapple. The squeezed fluid (with the original water) would have a tangy taste. That is good. Next, I added few cubes of sugar and allowed the fluid to ferment further for two days. After this period, you would notice some foam on the fluid. Nature is brewing something good for you! It is palm-wine and tastes like any one from up the palm-tree. I put these in bottles, refrigerated them for the family to drink. They tasted my brew and liked it. Needless to say that nothing remained. I tried this several times and it came out just fine, as my wife who witnessed it all could confirm.

That of udala was an inspiration I got after buying and drinking some udala wine made by some Nkwere women (that could compete favourably with any Bordeaux wine), who once had an exhibition a conference we had  at Concord Hotel, Owerri, in 1995, organised by the late Catherine Acholonu. Added to my philosophy of I ga-adi ndu ma i rachaba, I proceeded to try making wine out of udala. There were two types that resulted: real alcoholic wine and the udala fruit juice. The alcoholic udala wine was from a simple process of fermentation  and the udala fruit juice was thick and unfermented. Simply open up the udala and put in a clean bucket containing some water. Ferment for two days and then squeeze out the fleshy part. Do this vigorously to ensure that everything gets out. Break into pieces, as if washing the pressed out part. Then, sieve and bottle. You may put some sugar before re-fermenting. Note that in producing udala fruit juice,  you do not need any fermentation.

This simple fermentation  and making of fruit juice could be tried with yeye or any other fruit. It is disappointing to wait for the Chinese to make concentrated fruit juice (which no one is really sure about its ingredients) from yeye before Nigerians try it.

Sometimes, the discovery happens by chance. I once set out to blend and make juice from tiger nuts (aki awusa) but I could not finish the juice that resulted. I studied the juice and noticed that it had fermented; the taste had changed, and had become alcoholic! So, one can even  make alcoholic aki awusa juice as another variety, or make aki awusa wine! Can these local food industries understand me, understand this freak? Don’t wait for foreign industries to bottle coloured nonsense and tell you that it is tiger nut drink, may be give it one exotic name, may be aki-awusarula (to ape Amarula)!By the way, Amarula resulted from that same conversion of wild fruits to something of industrial competitive advantage!